Inside a large sandbox Thursday stood three prototypes that serve as Europe's answer to the Mars Space Race.

The sand was red to resemble the surface of Mars, and the new rover nicknamed "Bryan" by its creators is expected to bring samples of the Martian surface back to Earth by the 2020s.

Rocks and 300 tons of sand were specially selected to mimic Mars' red, rocky surface, and a large mural of the planet's landscape was also brought into the Mars Yard facility in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, according to a report by the Telegraph. The field will be used so the rover's cameras can prepare for the Red Planet's conditions.

The European Space Agency's ExoMars program is set to launch a Mars orbiter and demonstrator landing module in 2016, according to the Associated Press, and plans to send an autonomous robotic vehicle to the planet in 2018.

The new Mars Yard cost Airbus Defence and Space a cool $832,000 to create, reports CNN.com, but scientists believe they can use the facility to teach a rover to think for itself and calculate its own safe route.

"It takes 20 minutes for a signal to reach Mars, which is too slow for good control from the Earth," Justin Byrne, head of Earth observation and science at Airbus Defence and Space, told CNN. "This way the rover can get itself out of trouble."

In the coming years, a group of scientists will work to find the perfect landing spot for the solar-powered rover that will fit the limitations of the vehicle and the strict guidelines for the mission, says the Guardian.